Visual Storytelling: A Tale of Research Translation for

Wider Engagement?

Dr Katy Vigurs, Staffordshire University@drkatyvigurs #Visual16

“Uni is a bit of a safe haven and then you go out, and you don’t know what’s going to happen,

whether you’re going to be broke.”

“I live at home and I’d like to move out but then I can’t do

that on just a McDonald’s wage, or I could, but I’d be stuck in that job forever.”

“The debt just hangs there like a black cloud.”

“I want to commission a student illustrator to create four ‘visual vignettes’ (like grown-up comic strips) based upon the findings from the SRHE project to tell the story of the findings in a more human, succinct and accessible way, which will aid wider public engagement with the research. The resulting visual vignettes will be uploaded to the University’s website and linked to the full research report. This

will allow the research findings to be disseminated to a wide, international audience via micro-blogging tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.”

Institutional REF Support FundCall for ProposalsNovember 2015

I submitted a proposal to carry out an impact strategy.

I budgeted £1500 to employ an artist.

Plus £300 for printing.

Met with Course Leader for BA Cartoon & Comic

Arts in January 2016.

Met his 30 final year students and set a live

selection brief to recruit an artist.

Gave the students two anonymised interview transcripts. They were

tasked with turning each into a one-page comic

strip .

Four student artists responded to the selection

brief.

Four students. Different styles. Alternative visual interpretations.This developed my ‘graphic imagination’. I revised my plan.

From four ‘visual vignettes’ to a full comic book. I employed all four students artists.

Turning eight interview transcripts and the research report into a comic book.Storyboards and script writing.

Researcher and artists working together.Negotiating the graphic representations.

Ongoing processes of interpretation.Seeing the research through student artists’ eyes.

I’d allowed four months to make the comic.It took six months.

Support and flexibility was important.We were all learning.

Is the journey complete?

Not yet.

What other audiences are there?

How else can the comic be used?

The research-informed comic can be accessed for free here:

www.srhe.ac.uk/downloads/vigurs-katy-003.pdf

Please do share it with others.